As the public becomes more aware of the benefits of physical fitness, the demand for equipment adapted for performing physical fitness exercises is growing. Presently, there exists a great variety of equipment that is usable indoors to simulate exercising activities that traditionally are considered outdoor activities. This equipment permits the user to exercise year round, independent of outdoor weather conditions. Furthermore, many types of such equipment are now being manufactured for use in the operator's home. While such equipment does simulate outside exercise activities, the user of such equipment remains stationary relative to his or her surroundings and does not get the benefit of a cooling breeze that is created by movement. Several exercise machines have been designed with devices to direct an air flow at a user. U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,356, issued to Hildebrandt et al., discloses a stationary exerciser that includes a blower assembly operated by rotation of a flywheel to blow air through a duct inside of the device and onto the user. U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,650, issued to Bingham et al., discloses an Exercycle with air vents in the housing for directing air at the user. While these devices do direct air at the user, not all gyms are equipped with such exercise machines. Additionally, such machines are typically heavy and bulky thereby making them less appealing for use in the home.
Air resisted exercise machines are lighter in weight and require less storage space than most non air-resisted machines that simulate the same exercise. U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,316, issued to Dalebout et al., discloses an exercise cycle with fan type blades housed inside a cage. These blades provide a resistance force that simulates the force required to operate a bicycle and they direct air upward at the user from behind. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,396,316, issued to Dreissigacker et al., discloses a stationary rowing machine that uses fan blades for resistance. U.S. Pat. No. D367,508, issued to Dreissigacker et al., shows a stationary rowing machine that uses fan blades for resistance and those fan blades are enclosed in a cage.
While the fan type blades of these air-resisted exercise machines do provide a flow of air that could cool the user, this air is not directed at the user in a concentrated flow. Instead, the airflow generated by the fan type blades flows outward from the exterior perimeter of the fan or cage in all directions.
Thus there exists a need for a device that can be used to direct a concentrated flow of air at the user of an air resisted exercise machine having a plurality of fan type blades that are enclosed in a cage. Such a device should be removably attachable to these machines so that an exerciser can use it on machines in different locations (i.e., rowing machine at home, rowing machine at a gym, rowing machine at a competition, etc.). Such a device should also be attachable to machines that are currently available.